MAJOR concerns over the safety of rail passengers are being raised as the British Transport Police (BTP) report a surge in crimes committed at unstaffed stations.

Crime statistic spanning all stations served by the Northern rail franchise and protected by the BTP’s C Division Pennine have revealed an overall four per cent increase in crime, with 7,611 offences committed between 2016 and 2017.

Violence against a person has soared by more than 19 per cent year-on-year in the division, which includes the North-East, North Yorkshire and the East Coast Mainline.

The figures also document 382 serious assaults, 809 common assaults, two firearm offences, 167 sex crimes including 100 sex offences against women and 1,522 instances of theft of passenger property.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has warned the numbers show plans to operate Northern rail services without guards is “madness” and unmanned station will become “no-go areas” for passengers.

In recent weeks, Northern staff have been taking strike action on weekends in protest of proposed driver-only trains on at least 50 per cent of its services, rendering some lines and routes unmanned by train guards.

All RMT members working for Arriva Rail North were instructed not to book on for any shifts on Saturday and further strikes are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, said: “The rising crime on Northern revealed in the new statistics from the British Transport Police exposes the madness of removing the guard from the train.

“No staff on many routes and lines, no staff on the stations and no staff on the trains travelling through 330 stations means that much of the railway will increasingly become no-go areas for vulnerable passengers and new crime hot spots.

“At the same time our isolated drivers will be on their own, exposed to anti-social and violent behaviour.

“As well as these dangers there will be also be disadvantages for disabled and older passengers who require assistance because there will be no one there to help them on and off the train or provide assistance during their journey.

“No guard on the trains, combined with the de-staffing of stations, is a toxic cocktail that gives the criminals a free hand on Britain’s violent railways.”

However, bosses at Northern have stated changes to their services are for the benefit of customers and the RMT must be involved in making progress for service users.

Richard Allan, deputy managing director at Northern, said: “Northern is getting on with the important job of modernising local rail for customers with new trains, better stations and more services.

“It remains willing to involve RMT in that positive future for colleagues and customers. But progress can only be achieved through talking."

A Northern spokesman said: “Travelling to and from Northern stations is safe and it is inaccurate and misleading of the RMT to suggest otherwise.

"Over 100 million passenger journeys are made on Northern’s network each year and there is no evidence that crime at Northern stations, in particular those which are unmanned, has increased.

“The figures released by BTP last year relate to the entire Pennine region, which includes all stations in the region managed by Northern, TPE, East Midlands, LNER, London Northwestern, Network Rail and Virgin. Many of the crimes reported will have been recorded at hub stations such as Manchester Piccadilly, Liverpool, Leeds, York, Newcastle and Sheffield, which are not Northern stations.

“In addition the RMT has failed to highlight that the figures are 18 months out of date and relate to 2016/17 and an increase year-on-year from 2015/16. During this time all police forces saw a rise in crime and the percentage increase recorded on the railway, was lower than that in Home Office forces.”

The spokesman added: “The safety of our customers is our top priority and we would never do anything to compromise this. We want all customers to be safe – and feel safe – when travelling with Northern and, since the start of the franchise, have introduced 55 travel safe officers who journey across the network during operational hours to provide advice and reassurance.”